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INTERNATIONAL MEETINGS IN 1994
by Ghislaine de Coninck Contents:
INTRODUCTIONFor the past 46 years, the Union of International Associations has undertaken, for the benefit of its members, statistical studies on the international meetings that took place worldwide in the preceding year. The statistics are based on information collected by the UIA Congress Department and selected according to very strict criteria maintained over several years, this enabling meaningful comparison. Meetings taken into consideration include those organized and/or sponsored by the international organizations which appear in the "Yearbook of International Organizations" and in the "International Congress Calendar", i.e. : the sittings of their principal organs, congresses, conventions, symposia, regional sessions grouping several countries, as well as some national meetings with international participation organized by national branches of international associations. Under this last category are included meetings which are not collected systematically but which have been brought to our knowledge and which meet the following criteria :
Excluded from the UIA figures are : purely national meetings as well as those of an essentially religious, didactic, political, commercial, or sporting nature (such as religious gatherings, courses, party conferences, fairs, sales meeting, contest etc...). Also excluded are: meetings strictly limited in participation such as committees, group of experts etc... most of these being held at an intergovernmental level and taking place mainly at the headquarters of the large IGO's in New York, Geneva, Rome, Brussels, Vienna... This is an indicative survey compiled from results of research by the UIA Congress Department and using currently available information from international organizations selected according to specific criteria. GENERAL PICTUREThe 1994 figures show a slight increase in the number of international meetings organized worldwide in 180 different countries More than 9,000 international meetings have been taken into consideration in this survey in accordance with the criteria described above. This figure represents approximately 80 % of the total number of meetings included in our "congress" data bank for 1994. The developments which occurred in 1994 are illustrated in the tables below. In each table, international meetings organized/sponsored by international organizations and national meetings with large international participation are indicated separately. Compared with 1993, the overall increase registered in 1994 amounts to + 1.86 %. If only the number of meetings organized by international association are compared, than this figure reaches + 6.04%. Compared with the figures of 1992 the overall increase is + 4.10% and vis-a-vis 1991: + 9.60%. On an aggregated basis an upward trend is recorded worldwide; however, the
level of growth is more significant in some area than others. Tables 1 and 2 show the level of the various changes which occurred in 1994. The figures in Table 3 show that, despite the fact that the majority of meetings recorded in this survey took place in Europe, their percentage is slowly decreasing, ie 58.95% against 59.76% in 1993, 61.42% in 1992 and 62.30% in 1991. TABLE 1 :Worldwide breakdown of the variations registered in 1994 versus 1993
TABLE 2: Worldwide breakdown of the variations registered in 1994 versus 1992
TABLE 3: Worldwide breakdown of the total number of international meetings in 1994
TABLE 4: Variation in 1994 versus 1993 - Continent by Continent
BREAKDOWN BY COUNTRYAn analysis of the most active host countries is indicated in Table 5 below. TABLE 5: Leading countries hosting international organization meetings in 1994. % of the worldwide total
With regard to international meetings, the 5 top countries remain the same ie : USA, France, United Kingdom, Germany, Italy. The USA is increasing its leadership, with 8.82% of the worldwide total against 8.75% in 1993. Despite the fact that they are not mentioned in this table the following countries occupy a significant place in the worldwide ranking: Czech Rep, Mexico, Russia, Poland, Singapore, Brazil, Thailand, South Africa, Israel, China, Korea Rep, Malaysia, Turkey, Argentina, Ireland, Hong Kong and Egypt. The 1994 individual results compared with those of 1993 are showing that the greatest increases have taken place in South Africa, New Zealand, Australia, Czech Rep., Norway, Israel, Portugal, Canada, Austria, France and Germany. With regard to the total number of meetings of international organizations plus the national meetings with large international participation, the ranking is slightly different : Number one to seven are the same : USA, France, UK, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Belgium, followed in order by : Austria, Switzerland, Spain, Canada,Japan, Denmark, Australia, Norway, Finland, Singapore, Sweden, Portugal, India, Hungary, Israel, Hong Kong, Czech Rep, Brazil, Greece, South Africa, Mexico, Thailand, Russia, Poland, China, Korea Rep, Argentina, Malaysia, Turkey, Ireland, Egypt. LEADING CITIESTABLE 6: Leading cities hosting international organization meetings in 1994. % of the worldwide total
Based on the total figures, in 1994, the top ten cities are sharing 17.48% of the world market against 17.70% in 1993 and 19.46% in 1992. This result shows a confirmation in the trends experienced in the last years with the top cities reducing their share of the total market and thus indicating a larger geographical distribution. Analysis of this table also shows that the percentage of the worldwide market occupied by top cities is moving in a variable manner. Paris is slightly decreasing its leading place with now a share of 3.98 % (against 4.02% in 1993) of the world market but still a very long way ahead of other cities. Cities printed in bold letters are improving their ranking in comparison to 1993. Other cities not in the table but occupying a significant in column 1 (international organization meetings) statistics are, in order : Oslo, Tokyo, New Delhi, Beijing, Stockholm, Montreal, Firenze, Toronto, Luxembourg, Istanbul, Jerusalem, Kuala Lumpur, Den Haag, Cairo, Athinai, Moskva, Nairobi, Mexico City,... With regard to the total number of meetings the ranking is as follows: Paris, London, Wien, Brussels, Geneva, Singapore, Amsterdam, Berlin, Kobenhavn, New York, Strasbourg, Washington, Hong Kong, Madrid, Budapest, Roma, Bangkok, Helsinki, Praha, Lisboa. Not appearing in the table but also ranked highly (in total meetings) are the following: Barcelona, Stockholm, Oslo, Munchen, Jerusalem, Seoul, Tokyo, Beijing, Montreal, New Delhi, Toronto, Firenze, San Francisco , Maastricht, Sydney, Istanbul, Den Haag, Vancouver, Edinburgh, Luxembourg, Buenos Aires, Kuala Lumpur,... BREAKDOWN BY CONTINENTS/REGIONSThe situation in Africa is showing a noticeable increase in 1994 :
South Africa is increasing its predominance as first african country with 17.23% (11.43% in 1993 and 5.51% in 1992), directly followed by: Egypt 9.78%; Kenya 8.08%; Morocco 7.44% ; Tunisia 6.80%; Ethiopia and Ghana 4.68%; Senegal 4.04%; Zimbabwe 3.82%; Nigeria and Ivory Coast 3.19%. The highest ranking cities are : Cairo, Nairobi, Tunis, Abidjan, Accra, Dakar, Johannesburg, Capetown, Abidjan, Marakech, Harare. In North America (USA, Canada, Mexico), the increase experienced in 1992 and 1993 is consolidated with a slight increase of :
However, if considering only the international associations's meetings the situation is very different :
As in previous years, one wishes to stress again the fact that the meetings taken into consideration in the survey are primarily those organized/sponsored by international nongovernmental organizations; it is a well known fact that the number of large national meetings with international participation organized in North America is much higher than the figures detailed in this analysis (especially in the USA); the survey of this specific market is not within the scope of activities of the UIA. On a worldwide basis the USA is maintaining its leadership with an increasing 14.75% share of the world total against 15% in 1993, 11.38% in 1992 and 10.70% in 1991. Canada which was status quo in 1993 has gone up again in 1994 improving its share of the market. Leading cities, on the overall table, in N.America are in order of importance: New York, Washington, Montreal, Toronto, San Francisco, Vancouver, Buenos Aires, La Habana, Chicago, Mexico City, Atlanta, Orlando, ... Further to a slight decrease in 1993, the situation is progressing again in 1994 with an increase of both the worldwide and regional rating with a 5.57% share of the worldwide market against 5.44% in 1993 and an increase of + 4.38% of the regional level. Brazil is always the leading country in the area with a 17% share (same as in 1993); Chile 7.4% ; Cuba 7.2%; Costa Rica 5.4%, Ecuador 5%; Colombia 4.6%; Venezuela 4.2% Leading cities are in order of importance : Buenos Aires, La Habana, Rio de Janeiro, Santiago, San Jose, Sao Paulo. The steady increase which goes on from year to year in this part of the world is slightly decreasing in 1994 but still positive :
Asia is always the third area in importance in the world, with 13.15%, behind Europe and North America. Japan is prominent in the area with a 19.30% (23.02% in 1993) share of the
Asian market; it occupies the 12th place on the world ranking. Leading cities are in order of importance : Singapore, Hong Kong, Bangkok, Jerusalem, Tokyo, Seoul, Beijing, New Delhi, Kuala Lumpur, Kyoto, Yokahama, Manila. The slight upward trend experienced in 1993 is largely continuing with the most significant worldwide increases being :
Both Australia and New Zealand are progressing. The leading cities are in order of importance : Sydney, Adelaide, Melbourne, Perth and Auckland. As indicated on Table 1, the slight decrease noticed in 1993 in Europe has been stopped:
The trend experienced in previous years showing a reduction in the percentage of meetings taking place in Europe is confirmed: 58.95% (59.76% in 1993; 61.42% in 1992 and 62.3% in 1991). Of these 49.75% were organized by international associations. France is second in the world and keeps the leading place in Europe with respectively 8.75% of the worldwide total (8.45% in 1993; 9.14% in 1992 and 9.25% in 1991) and 14.84% of the European market. France is followed by United Kingdom with 12.18% (10.88% in 1993); Germany 10.59%; Italy 7.27%; Netherlands 6.59%; Belgium 5.68%; Austria 5.44%; Switzerland 4.83%; Spain 4.62%. As indicated earlier main increases took place in Austria, Czech Rep, France, Germany, Luxembourg, Norway, Portugal and United Kingdom. The development experienced during recent years in Eastern European countries is stopped except in Czech Rep. and Slovenia where it goes up. Countries having increased their share are indicated on Table with the sign "+". In the overall Table, leading cities in Europe are in order of importance : Paris, London, Wien, Brussels, Geneve, Amsterdam, Berlin, Kobenhavn, Strasbourg, Madrid, Budapest, Roma, Helsinki, Praha, Lisboa, Barcelona, Stockholm, Oslo, Munchen, Firenze... BREAKDOWN BY CITIESAs indicated above, the overall classification of cities within the various continents/regions is as follows:
PARTICIPANTSThe analysis of information related to the number of delegates attending these meetings confirms the existing trend, ie. a majority of meeting with participants below 1000 :
EXHIBITIONSThe number of exhibitions organized jointly with international meetings analyzed in this survey amounts to 12.29%, and is more or less similar to 1993. MONTHLY BREAKDOWNThe monthly breakdown does not show much changes and is as follows :
CONCLUSION AND FUTURE TRENDSAs indicated at the beginning of this analysis, the number of international meetings organized worldwide shows a slight increase during the year 1994. From an analysis of the various tables published above, it appears that the increase is more significant in the number of meetings organized/ sponsored by international associations. As far as the geographical distribution of meetings is concerned it appears that the number of countries host of international meetings is growing from year to year. As far as the duration of meetings is concerned, we do not have any analysis allowing us to prove firmly that the duration of meetings has gone down; however, when applying our criteria for the selection of national meetings with international participation, we had to exclude a large proportion of these meetings due mainly to the fact that the 3 days limit fixed in our criteria, was not reached. This confirms our feeling expressed last year, that there is a certain tendency to concentrate the work into a shorter period of time. Based on the information available to-day, trends for future years are good and at this stage the upward curve seems likely to go on. |
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